Regional RepoRt : Latin america
The Radisson Blu in Belo Horizonte , Brazil , managed by Atlantica Hotels International , which signed Hilton Worldwide as a client earlier this year .
The Hilton Barra in Rio de Janeiro : The company added nearly 20 hotels to its Latin American and Caribbean portfolio in 2015 .
building in Brazil has slowed considerably , but “ where there is challenge , there is opportunity ,” he adds . “ You ’ re seeing a fair amount of investment by big private equity firms in a bet that Brazil will come out of ( the downturn ).”
Sistare believes 2016 will be another year of contraction . “ We ’ re not seeing the bottom yet — we ’ re looking over the side and seeing the abyss ,” he says . “ Everybody ’ s trying to figure out what Brazil is going to do .”
Despite that , four of the top five markets for hotel development are in Brazil , according to Lodging Econometrics . And Atlantica , Latin America ’ s largest privately held hotel company , is adding hotels to the 85 it already manages under 12 brands : Sistare says plans include opening another dozen hotels in cities where the company , which has an exclusive relationship with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group , already has a presence . In January , Atlantica signed a licensing agreement with Hilton Worldwide to develop and manage Hilton Garden Inns in Brazil . This spring , Atlantica is aiming to open a Radisson Red to capture younger , more tech-savvy customers in Campinas , a city of more than a million .
Private equity firm Equity International ’ s chief financial officer , Brian Finerty , says hotel assets in Brazil have suffered “ significantly ” with the currency devaluation . “ A lot of other private equity funds have tapped on the brakes or exited ,” he says . Having said that , though , “ we ’ re still looking at opportunities .”
“ We believe in the economy market in Brazil , and we are fighting for this market ,” says Erica Drumond , CEO of Vert Hoteis , which has an exclusive partnership with Wyndham Hotel Group to operate Ramada brands in Brazil . Vert has five Ramada hotels operating and a commercial partnership with the only Days Inn in Brazil , totaling 1,096 room . In 2016 , they plan to have 16 Ramada brand hotels totaling 2,881 rooms .
The country is in a crisis , and “ all the world knows we are in a crisis . Unemployment is high , which means that we can find more qualified people to work with , but salaries keep going down .” Still , she is optimistic . “ We are not Brazil as we used to be 20 years ago . I think in six months my company and my country are going to be much different .”
The upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro may help boost the country ’ s international profile , says Ricardo Mader , JLL ’ s managing director , advisory and asset management services for Latin America . “ We think the Olympics will help to promote the country , with new supply and new construction ,” he says . But “ everyone is taking a wait-and-see view ,” his colleague Dickinson adds .
Heating up If Brazil represents one end of the economic spectrum in Latin America , the story is different — quite different — elsewhere in the region . “ On the other end of the scale , Mexico , the Caribbean — they were in the doldrums . Now they ’ re on fire ,” JLL ’ s Dickinson says . But even in Mexico , “ in certain markets that are contingent on the petroleum industry , things are tough .”
Mexico might be on the other end of
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